Desperation ate at me and my hands curled into fists in my lap. “Boss—”
“You can be in there as well, but he needs to tell us with his own words that his boss was the one to send the book for publishing. It’s one thing for you to tell me such a thing, it’s another for it to come from Vail.”
“And then what? The Italians go after him?” I asked. I didn’t give a ripe shite about Vail’s boss, they could murder him for all I cared, but I knew Vail didn’t want any more blood on his hands.
“What they do after they leave our meeting is none of our concern, unless they break an agreement.” He stood and the men around him did, too. I had no choice but to rise as well because it was a sign of respect I couldn’t ignore. “They’ll be here at two. Make sure you and Vail and your men are ready.” With that, he slipped his hand into Conall’s and yanked him out of the dining room.
As soon as he left we all sat down again. I sighed, pressing my fingers into my forehead to stave off the headache beginning to throb there as I thought about everything that could go wrong. There were too many possibilities, and while mobsters were serious when it came to peaceful meetings, I couldn’t trust anyone around Vail.
“Your man will be fine,” Fionn said, surprising me. He never said much to someone like me. We always thought he was a bit stuck on himself, in that he thought he was too important to talk to anyone below a general. Yet there was softness in his words. “Uncle Sloan wouldn’t let anything happen to him. He likes him, says he’s funny.”
Daire, Sloan’s close friend and third in charge behind Fionn, snorted. “Sloan likes anyone who’s different. He’s amused easily.”
“There’s nothingdifferentabout Vail,” I said, unable to stop myself from defending him.
Daire raised his dark eyebrows, and the right side of his mouth tilted, caught between a smirk and a grin. He had his long-on-top hair slicked straight back this morning and I wanted to go over there and punch him until it was messed up. “From what I’ve heard, I disagree.”
“He has ADHD. That doesn’t make him different.” I straightened my back and grabbed the fork in my hand so tightly my knuckles turned white.
“It does.” Daire shrugged, a bored expression sweeping across his handsome face. “But if you want to survive in this world, you need to be different. We’re alldifferent, Cillian, so put that down.” He nodded at the fork. Nothing got past him, and I could easily see why he was a high-ranking general in the Company.
I let the fork fall back on the table and winced. “Sorry, sir.”
Everyone else laughed, including Fionn, and I smiled, going back to my food.
About fifteen minutes later, Fallon, Aspen, Rowen, and Vail finally came downstairs looking as exhausted as I felt. Vail plopped in the chair beside me, and I kissed him on the lips, unable to resist him being so close. He was extra-adorable in the mornings, with messy hair and sleepy eyes, until the second where the switch flipped and he was all energy. Someone, I doubted it was him, had dabbed shiny ointment on his lip wounds.
“So, you are Vail.” Fionn focused on Vail, staring at him curiously before sliding his gaze around to the other three guys. “I don’t see the appeal.”
Nope, take that back, he was still an arrogant arsehole.
“I do.” Daire raised his eyebrow at Fionn, and Fionn glared at him. Whatever was happening was clearly just between them because they stared at each other for so long it became uncomfortable.
Vail gave me a confused glance as he packed food on his plate, and all I could do was shrug.
“Time for us to go, I think,” Jamie said, rising from his seat, with Corbin throwing down the paper and following him to stand. “We have some logistics to go over before our visitors show up. Fionn, Daire, we could use yer help.”
Fionn and Daire left with Jamie and Corbin, and I watched them go. When they cleared the room, I glanced toward Aspen, who sat on the opposite side of the table with a bruised and battered Fallon, before looking at Rowen, who sat on Vail’s other side. I didn’t know how to begin to tell them what was about to happen. They’d all be as furious as me.
“What’s up?” Aspen asked in his deep voice. He always knew when something was wrong.Fecker.
I sighed. “Sloan’s got the Giordanos coming here today at two. He wants to make a ceasefire deal with them.”
“What?” Rowen barked. He surprised me by being the first to explode. I’d expected him to be last because he was always the calm one. Then again, Vail was important to him, and he was passionate about things, or people, he cared about. “What the feck is he thinking?”
“He’s thinking we have enough to deal with right now without going to war with some filthy Italians, that’s what,” I said, running my palms over my face. “He told me he’d keep Vail safe.”
“What do ye mean by that? He wants Vailinthe room with those wee fecks? No. Fuck that.” Rowen shook his head. “I’m not gonna allow it.”
“Fine, ye tell the boss that.” I waved my hand at him. “He’s the one in charge, Rowen, and we have to trust him to keep Vail safe.”
“I’ve never been around for this type of meeting.Isit safe?” Fallon asked, frowning between me and Rowen.
Vail laid his hand on Rowen’s shoulder, and even though there was fear in his wide brown eyes, I didn’t miss the excitement there, either. As though the thought of being in a meeting between two mob families was the most fantastic thing that could’ve happened today.Of course it is, because he lived off this type of shite. It was the focus of his degree after all, wasn’t it?
“I’ll be fine. I trust Mr. Killough. I mean, I’ve only met him once or twice, how many times has it been? It doesn’t matter. I trust him. He wants to keep me safe. I like him.” Vail pressed his forehead to Rowen’s. “It’ll be okay.”
“It won’t be,” Rowen grumbled. “Ye don’t know how this works, angel. These men are ruthless.”
